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Here's another story from one of my karaoke nights. This one happened a few weeks ago, not at my usual hangout, but at a different bar. The place is kind of a rip-off -- the drinks are a bit pricey, the bottles of beer costing a whole buck more than at my favorite spot, and they cut the karaoke show off at midnight, but they have a karaoke contest where you can win $100. And the place is smoke-free, and it's nice being able to come home from the bar and not smelling like an ashtray. As for whether or not smoking should be allowed in bars, that's a discussion better for Fratching.
It's not really an actual contest anymore. It went through some transformations from when it first started. When they first started, it was all audience participation. So basically, you could completely screw up the song or suck as a singer, but if you brought a bunch of loudmouth friends with you, you could win.
Then for awhile, they appointed a couple of "mystery judges." No one knew who they were, but I'm pretty sure that at least the one time, it was some people from the kitchen staff. I did a song that night that was completely out of character for me, and they actually came out from the kitchen to see that yes, "Metal Mike" was doing that song! And I ended up winning that night.
Now they just do it as a random drawing. Every time you sing, they put your song slip in a pile -- up to three songs -- and draw one at random at the end of the night. The upside is that you can try a new song and not have to worry about screwing it up, but it kind of sucks because I actually did win in the past on my ability to actually sing. But none of that really has anything to do with this story...
I was there with my friend from the other bar, whose name is also Mike. You think that's confusing, some nights at the other bar, there are three Mikes at the same table. I'm "Metal Mike" because... well I think that's obvious. My friend is "Mellow Mike", because he's a little older than me, and usually does classic rock stuff. One of the other regulars from this bar recently started hanging out with us, because she's been having problems with creepy guys trying to hit on her, and I guess she feels we're "safe." Her name is Jamie, and she's about my son's age. She is not a very good singer -- in fact it could be said she's completely tone-deaf, but she's a sweet girl. She knows she can't sing, but she does it for fun, as it should be.
One night, I had stepped away from the table to get another beer. As I came back to our table, Jamie was up singing, and some guy was up trying to sing along with her. I didn't think anything of it, I thought maybe they knew each other, but then I noticed she looked kind of upset. Before I could really think about it, he got off the stage. After she was done singing, she told us that the guy told her she "sucked at singing", and tried to grab the microphone from her.
At that point, I went off to play a fun game of "Find the one urinal that actually works." When I came back to our table, the drunk asshole was at our table, and Mike was going off on him. Apparently while I was gone, Mike decided to confront the guy when he saw him at the pool table, and he followed Mike back to our table. Mike was telling him what a "dickhead" thing that was to do, and the guy just claimed he was "speaking his mind." I always thought that you had to have a mind to be able to speak your mind, but apparently not.
After they went back and forth a few times, the guy finally started to back down, and eventually said, "Yeah, I guess I can be an asshole sometimes." He then apologized to Jamie, who apparently not knowing how to respond, just stared at him and didn't say anything. Then she looked over at Mike, and he told her, "It's up to you whether you want to accept his apology." I can't remember if she did or didn't but the guy eventually left.
I found out when I came back in next week that that wasn't the end of it. Apparently the guy went outside to the deck area after his interaction with our group. They normally don't have it open this time of year, but it was an unseasonably warm night that night, and they decided to have a band out there. He decided to start up an argument with some other guy out there, and ended up taking a swing at him. The guy sidestepped it, and he ended up hitting some woman by mistake. Unlucky for him, the woman's boyfriend was right there when it happened, and ended up beating the living shit out of the drunk. Apparently one of the employees saw the whole thing, and threw the drunk out, and told him not to come back.
It's not really an actual contest anymore. It went through some transformations from when it first started. When they first started, it was all audience participation. So basically, you could completely screw up the song or suck as a singer, but if you brought a bunch of loudmouth friends with you, you could win.
Then for awhile, they appointed a couple of "mystery judges." No one knew who they were, but I'm pretty sure that at least the one time, it was some people from the kitchen staff. I did a song that night that was completely out of character for me, and they actually came out from the kitchen to see that yes, "Metal Mike" was doing that song! And I ended up winning that night.
Now they just do it as a random drawing. Every time you sing, they put your song slip in a pile -- up to three songs -- and draw one at random at the end of the night. The upside is that you can try a new song and not have to worry about screwing it up, but it kind of sucks because I actually did win in the past on my ability to actually sing. But none of that really has anything to do with this story...
I was there with my friend from the other bar, whose name is also Mike. You think that's confusing, some nights at the other bar, there are three Mikes at the same table. I'm "Metal Mike" because... well I think that's obvious. My friend is "Mellow Mike", because he's a little older than me, and usually does classic rock stuff. One of the other regulars from this bar recently started hanging out with us, because she's been having problems with creepy guys trying to hit on her, and I guess she feels we're "safe." Her name is Jamie, and she's about my son's age. She is not a very good singer -- in fact it could be said she's completely tone-deaf, but she's a sweet girl. She knows she can't sing, but she does it for fun, as it should be.
One night, I had stepped away from the table to get another beer. As I came back to our table, Jamie was up singing, and some guy was up trying to sing along with her. I didn't think anything of it, I thought maybe they knew each other, but then I noticed she looked kind of upset. Before I could really think about it, he got off the stage. After she was done singing, she told us that the guy told her she "sucked at singing", and tried to grab the microphone from her.
At that point, I went off to play a fun game of "Find the one urinal that actually works." When I came back to our table, the drunk asshole was at our table, and Mike was going off on him. Apparently while I was gone, Mike decided to confront the guy when he saw him at the pool table, and he followed Mike back to our table. Mike was telling him what a "dickhead" thing that was to do, and the guy just claimed he was "speaking his mind." I always thought that you had to have a mind to be able to speak your mind, but apparently not.
After they went back and forth a few times, the guy finally started to back down, and eventually said, "Yeah, I guess I can be an asshole sometimes." He then apologized to Jamie, who apparently not knowing how to respond, just stared at him and didn't say anything. Then she looked over at Mike, and he told her, "It's up to you whether you want to accept his apology." I can't remember if she did or didn't but the guy eventually left.
I found out when I came back in next week that that wasn't the end of it. Apparently the guy went outside to the deck area after his interaction with our group. They normally don't have it open this time of year, but it was an unseasonably warm night that night, and they decided to have a band out there. He decided to start up an argument with some other guy out there, and ended up taking a swing at him. The guy sidestepped it, and he ended up hitting some woman by mistake. Unlucky for him, the woman's boyfriend was right there when it happened, and ended up beating the living shit out of the drunk. Apparently one of the employees saw the whole thing, and threw the drunk out, and told him not to come back.
To give him credit, he did attempt to sing it but he was awful; not only cuz his voice sounded weird with the song, but he couldn't carry a tune in a bucket and everyone was laughing. Once it ended, he got off stage with all speed. Never heard a peep out of him for the rest of the night or indeed, ever.
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